Page 48 of The Texas Sterling Collection
At 11:00, we pulled into the curved driveway. The headlights lit the garage door as it rose. The spray-painted wordFAGGOTSmoved up with the garage door and disappeared.
“Oh, my God!” Rod pressed the remote, and the garage door closed again.
We both sat staring at the slur in disbelief. My stomach hurt, and my heart pounded. Guilt washed through me. I caused this, and Rod became a victim of my troubled past, returning to haunt us. “Rod, I’m so sorry. This is all my fault.”
“What do you mean, your fault?” Rod punched my shoulder. “This is not your fault.”
I looked at Rod. “Dusty hates gays. And he knows your name. Finding your address online is easy. If it weren’t for me, this wouldn’t have happened.”
Rod grabbed my hand. “Do not take this burden on yourself. We’re soulmates, remember? When one of us loses his way, the other one finds him. We don’t do things apart anymore. Any troubles one faces, we face together. Got it?”
Rod made a point. Dusty's target now included both of us. I didn’t expect him to make good on the threats he made to Rod, at least not the same day. Vandalism is against the law, and this act pointed at the most logical lawbreaker, Dusty. “Yeah, babe,” I nodded.
A tap on the glass jerked our attention to the driver’s side window. Maybe the villains waited to ambush us. I glanced at the window on Rod’s side. A woman? Dusty's wife?
Rod rolled down the window. “Hi, Cindy.”
Oh yes…Cindy, the next-door neighbor Rod mentioned.
“I hoped you guys would come home. A couple of artists paid you a visit and sprayed an indication of their IQ on your garage door,” Cindy said. “They left in a big hurry.”
Rod glanced back at the crudely painted slur. “Did you or Randy get vehicle information or a description of the perps?”
“The kids alerted us, and we came out as the vandals ran back to their truck. I don’t think anyone but me and Randysaw anything. They sped away before we realized what had happened.”
“Where are my manners?” Rod said. “Cindy, this is my partner, Wyl.”
I leaned forward. “Hi, Cindy. It’s good to meet you.”
“Same,” Cindy said. “I hope this guy is treating you well.” She thumbed toward Rod.
“He’s okay, I guess.” I grinned.
I waved my thumb toward the garage door. “Tell Randy we’ll take care of this artwork tomorrow.”
“Call us if you need help. Goodnight, you two.” Cindy turned to leave.
“Thanks, Cindy,” Rod said. “Goodnight.”
He let out a breath. “Well, this was the day from hell.” He pressed the remote to open the garage door again and pulled into the garage. “Remind me we donotgo out to eat in this town.”
“I don’t want Dusty’s actions to force us into hiding.” I grabbed Rod’s hand. “I’ve lived with this long enough. I should have fought back years ago, and it’s about time I did. My reputation goes pretty high up in the ranks of the Corps, so when I call my commander, Dusty will be in big trouble. He’ll regret messing with us.”
Rod laughed. “Whoa…monster appearing!”
“Your relationship with me is more important than anything.
Rod leaned over for a kiss. “Let’s go in. How about a martini? After this day, a drink would hit the spot.”
“I vote yes.” We got out of the truck and went inside.
Rod filled the shaker with ice and handed it to me. While I mixed the martinis, he carved two twists from a lemon and rubbed the rims of the martini glasses. I poured and handed Rod a glass.
“Deck?” He took the offered martini.
“You bet!” I grabbed my glass, and we went out and strolled to the deck rail.
A quick kiss later, Rod backed into my arms while we sipped our drinks. In the cool, clear evening, the crickets provided star-gazing music. I reflected on the day and the weeks leading up to this point. Since the day we met, standing here together had been our destiny. The road was bumpy sometimes, but how I felt about Rod meant a bright future.
